A shared genome panel brings 269 primate species into view
A peer-reviewed genome study has reprocessed existing DNA sequences from 3,240 non-human primates to make comparisons across 269 species. The team accounted for differences in how sex chromosomes are inherited and examined a smaller, quality-filtered group for genetic diversity. The resource broadens comparisons across the primate family, although species with few samples remain harder to assess.
Science··Evening
Existing sequences become a common panel
Researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark brought existing DNA sequences from 3,240 non-human primates into a panel spanning 269 species.[1], [2]
Researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark drew on 148 public projects rather than collecting a new set of animals. Bringing these sequences through one processing pipeline makes comparisons less dependent on the different methods originally used by each project. The panel includes monkeys, apes, strepsirrhines and a very small tarsier group.[1]
Sex chromosomes require separate handling
The team mapped reads to 47 reference genomes and aligned those references for cross-species comparison. It handled the different numbers of sex-chromosome copies in males and females during variant calling, the step that identifies differences in DNA sequences. Genetic sex assignment reduced the number of samples of unknown sex from 1,384 to five. Comparison with the human X chromosome also identified previously unlabelled X-derived segments in 23 reference genomes.[1]
The diversity result uses a smaller subset
Genetic-diversity analysis used 1,427 individuals from 255 species that passed stricter read-depth and missing-data filters. Most of these individuals had less diversity on the X chromosome than would be expected from a simple three-quarter comparison with other chromosomes. The authors discuss migration, mutation and selection as possible contributors, without assigning the pattern to one factor. Species represented by one or few individuals remain difficult to separate into reliable genetic groups.[1]
